{"id":1244,"date":"2012-07-22T11:03:11","date_gmt":"2012-07-22T16:03:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/?p=1244"},"modified":"2012-07-22T11:04:36","modified_gmt":"2012-07-22T16:04:36","slug":"florida-discoveries-28-pensacola-mess-hall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2012\/07\/florida-discoveries-28-pensacola-mess-hall.html","title":{"rendered":"Florida Discoveries 28: Pensacola MESS Hall"},"content":{"rendered":"

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I could have sworn I had heard about the Pensacola MESS Hall<\/a> from the Pensacola With Kids blog, but I can’t find the reference article. \u00a0Oh well.<\/p>\n

Trust me when I say that I had first heard about it through Pensacola With Kids<\/a>, but I can’t find the original review now. \u00a0But what I did find was this story in the Pensacola Digest<\/a> that came out not long after the facility opened in June.<\/p>\n

This facility currently is only scheduled to be open through the 3rd week of August (August 18th according to their Facebook page<\/a>).<\/p>\n

So what is the MESS Hall? \u00a0Well, for starters, MESS = Math, Engineering, Science and Stuff. \u00a0It’s a science center unlike anything I had ever seen. \u00a0And trust me, I have been to many many science museums and explorer-type centers in my days<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The MESS Hall is in downtown Pensacola just a block off Palafox Street near the center square. \u00a0After spending time here, the family can adjourn to a nice dinner nearby.<\/p>\n

The MESS Hall has attempted to capture the feeling of a traditional mess hall<\/a>, which is a military term for where servicemembers eat on the base or on their ships. \u00a0The kids will walk in (after paying the $5 per person admission), and are greeted with a open space with tables and assorted areas for free play with wind tunnels, marble run parts and pendulums. \u00a0The walls are covered in posters featuring optical illusions.<\/p>\n


\n

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This is the MESS Hall “Counter”. Where kids can order experiments to perform on their own.<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

Off towards the right is a counter. \u00a0This is where the MESS Hall definitely has a leg-up on other science centers. \u00a0On the counter is the MESS Hall’s “menu”. \u00a0There is a list of experiments that the kids can choose from. \u00a0This list changes daily, so repeat visits are definitely in order.<\/p>\n

The kids place their experiment “order” with an attendant behind the counter, and they can watch the attendants assemble the supplies for the experiment on a plastic meal tray. \u00a0And the kids then take the tray, seat themselves among the tables and chair and work on their experiment.<\/p>\n

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Timmy’s doing the “Taste Test” experiment. What a face! He tasted a strip of paper with the compound PTC on it and we discussed why he could taste it or not.<\/p><\/div>\n

Most of the experiments will culminate in something that the child can take home. \u00a0The instruction book clearly states which supplies are for the guest to keep, and which supplies need to be returned to the counter. \u00a0Examples of what my kids explored were homemade magnets, homemade slime<\/a>\u00a0(something we did for a class Halloween party when Jacob was in 2nd grade, actually), paper marbling with shaving cream<\/a> and a taste-test<\/a> using PTC, a molecule whose taste can only be detected in some humans<\/a>. \u00a0Many of these experiments can be done at home with materials on hand, but at the MESS Hall the materials are presented up front — included in the admission — and there’s plenty of space to make a mess (no pun intended).<\/p>\n

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This is how an experiment is presented: a blue tray with the materials and a laminated bound instruction booklet.<\/p><\/div>\n

When the guest is finished with experiments, he can then spend time at the puzzles table, or go explore the wind tunnels or pendulum-based harmonograph<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I had the chance to meet Dr. Megan Pratt<\/a>, one of the founders of the MESS Hall, a neurobiologist by trade, and also one of the at-large members of the Pensacola City Council. \u00a0An interview with her about the MESS Hall is in the Pensacola Digest article I had linked above, and she and I had a similar conversation about the future of science education and how a facility such as the MESS Hall can help kids take science\/math learning beyond the classroom walls. \u00a0Dr. Pratt wants the kids to explore through the scientific method, and not necessarily have to have a right or wrong answer.<\/p>\n

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Jacob LOVED playing with the harmonograph, which uses a swinging pendulum to control the movement of paper under a stationary pen. Spirograph-type pictures will be drawn.<\/p><\/div>\n

There are attendants throughout the facility. \u00a0High school and college kids, by my observation. \u00a0They walk up with other experiments for the kids to watch. \u00a0I was reminded of Mr. Wizard’s World on Nickelodeon<\/a>, where the experimenter would ask “What do you think will happen?” to the kids before the experiment was presented (hypothesizing). \u00a0Then the kids are asked what they saw (observing), then they’re asked what might happen if a part of the experiment was changed (control vs. variables), and finally, the kids are offered a chance to draw conclusions.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

This young man was walking around showing the kids how to punch a skewer through a balloon without popping it.<\/p><\/div>\n

My kids got to watch a skewering of a balloon this way, and later on Timmy got the chance to try the experiment on his own.<\/p>\n

We arrived at the center at 12pm and were sorry to have to leave at 2pm. \u00a0There was a lot more we could have done but we will simply need to pay another visit before August 18th.<\/p>\n

The Pensacola MESS Hall is on 21 West Romana St. in Downtown Pensacola<\/a>. \u00a0It’s open on Wednesdays – Fridays from 10-2, and on Saturdays from 10-5. \u00a0The facility will be closing on August 18th and will be starting a fundraising campaign. \u00a0It needs capital to move to a larger facility and sustain itself year-round. \u00a0Learn more through their website<\/a> and their Facebook page<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I could have sworn I had heard about the Pensacola MESS Hall from the Pensacola With Kids blog, but I can’t find the reference article. \u00a0Oh well. Trust me when I say that I had first heard about it through Pensacola With Kids, but I can’t find the original review now. \u00a0But what I did […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1],"tags":[276,97,626,175,179,628,277,619,37],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5ycQ0-k4","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1288,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2012\/08\/florida-discoveries-32-cajun-specialty-meats-pensacola.html","url_meta":{"origin":1244,"position":0},"title":"Florida Discoveries 32: Cajun Specialty Meats, Pensacola","date":"11 August 12","format":false,"excerpt":"The family spent Wednesday in Pensacola, enjoying one last trip to the Pensacola MESS Hall before they close for the school year. After our time at the MESS Hall, we looked for an inexpensive -- but not fast-food -- lunch option. \u00a0There are typically numerous restaurants along Gregory St. near\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"florida\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Turducken_quartered_cross-section-1024x439.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1397,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2012\/08\/florida-discoveries-34-fort-mcree.html","url_meta":{"origin":1244,"position":1},"title":"Florida Discoveries 34: Fort McRee \/ Sand Island \/ Admiral’s Island \/ Dog Island \/ etc…","date":"29 August 12","format":false,"excerpt":"Our friends and neighbors, the Scotts, took our family out on their boat last weekend. \u00a0It was so kind of them to offer; their boat seats 4 adults and 2 kids pretty well, but no more passengers than that can fit, so we had to find a weekend that didn't\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"family\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/IMG_2926-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":604,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2011\/07\/florida-discoveries-13-pensacola-lighthouse.html","url_meta":{"origin":1244,"position":2},"title":"Florida Discoveries 13: Pensacola Lighthouse","date":"06 July 11","format":false,"excerpt":"As is always the case when I get together with Maryann the Fotomom, today was an adventure. We took our boys to NAS Pensacola today and enjoyed an hour or so at the Pensacola Lighthouse before spending the rest of the day at the National Museum of Naval Aviation, which\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"florida discoveries\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-2UDej74S6gM\/ThPEWY6rM4I\/AAAAAAABXik\/FZ5Ev4Zl-UQ\/s640\/IMG_8968.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1696,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2013\/01\/florida-discoveries-36-pensacola-dog-fanciers-association-agility-trials.html","url_meta":{"origin":1244,"position":3},"title":"Florida Discoveries 36: Pensacola Dog Fanciers Association Agility Trials","date":"24 January 13","format":false,"excerpt":"The first week of January, I caught a status update on Facebook from the blog Pensacola with Kids. It's a great Facebook page to follow when you're looking for stuff to do on weekends around here. They suggested the four-day-long Pensacola Dog Fanciers Association Agility Trials\u00a0that started on Thursday of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"agility\"","img":{"alt_text":"DSC_2333","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/DSC_2333-1024x678.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1007,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2012\/05\/florida-discoveries-23-pensacola-blue-wahoos-baseball.html","url_meta":{"origin":1244,"position":4},"title":"Florida Discoveries 23: Pensacola Blue Wahoos Baseball","date":"09 May 12","format":false,"excerpt":"After a day of the boys playing baseball, we headed out to downtown Pensacola for an evening with the Pensacola Blue Wahoos -- the city's brand new AA Minor League baseball team. They had a team called the Pelicans until 2010, but for summer 2011, there was no professional baseball\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"baseball\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/IMG_2076-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":612,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2011\/01\/florida-discoveries-3-national-museum-of-naval-aviation-2.html","url_meta":{"origin":1244,"position":5},"title":"Florida Discoveries 3: National Museum of Naval Aviation","date":"27 January 11","format":false,"excerpt":"From 2011 01 23 Naval Aviation Museum PensacolaThis past weekend my parents came to visit, mainly for my youngest's birthday, but I'm sure that Dad was super-excited to visit the National Museum of Naval Aviation at NAS Pensacola.On Sunday after breakfast, we ventured the 30 miles west and arrived at\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"aircraft\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lh5.ggpht.com\/_yz59FVsseJY\/TT0E4A0fmdI\/AAAAAAABP8M\/07GpYHLKr3Q\/s400\/IMG_5866.JPG?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1244"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1244"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1244\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}